News

Sharewatch: Right royal result

Royal Bank of Scotland Group: there are now only four banks bigger than the Edinburgh-based financial services giant — Citigroup, Bank of America, HSBC and Wells Fargo.

Scotland’s biggest quoted company has kept the faith of shareholders with pre-tax profits of £4.8 billion, up from £4.2 billion last time, earnings per share of 67.4p (66.3p) and a dividend of 43.7p (38p).

Fred Goodwin, chief executive, attributed the gain to integrating NatWest into the group and organic growth. The bank, with a current market capitalisation of £42 billion, continues to look for acquisitions. While takeover targets will be identified in the UK and mainland Europe, analysts say the likeliest scenario will be a continuation of the buying spree on the American east coast, where its Citizens Financial subsidiary continues to deliver impressive numbers.

If the current coverage given to the bank and Goodwin by the US media is anything to go by,